Running head: SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK END OF YEAR REPORT
School Social Work End of Year Report
E.S.
California State University, Fresno
SWRK 275
Andrea Carlin, L.C.S.W.
May 1, 2012
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SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK END OF YEAR REPORT
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School Social Work End of Year Report
Introduction
As a Master’s in social work student and PPS credential candidate, this past school year
of field internship has brought a great wealth of knowledge and experiences that has been
instrumental in my professional development as a school social worker. The purpose of this
paper is to provide details of the school social work services provided to Admiral Akers School
for the 2011-2012 school year at the different system levels.
Nestled in the residential area on the Naval Air Base Station in Lemoore is Admiral Akers
School. Admiral Akers School primarily provides education to children who reside on base,
however not exclusively to base residents. “Akers,” as it is called in the community, serves
grades k-8th. There was a total enrollment of 669 students in the 2010-11 school year (Annual
School Accountability Report Card [SARC], 2012). Of the total enrollment, 54.9% of the
students were Caucasian, 19.3% Hispanic/Latino, 10.9% African American, 6.7% Filipino, 4.6%
Asian, 1.5% Pacific Islander or Hawaiian, and .1.0% Alaskan Native /Native American, and .01%
two or more races. In addition, 7.2% of the total enrollments were eligible for special
education services and 2.4% qualified for English learner support services (SARC, 2012).
The faculty and staff at Admiral Akers school consists of administrators, transition
specialist, teachers, teacher aides, contracted speech therapists, a school psychologist, a
marriage and family therapist intern, two school social work intern from Fresno state and
University of Southern California, nurses, student probation officer, student resource officer,
custodial staff, and yard duty staff. These various positions provide the students with an array
of services to help a child succeed academically, socially, to remain safe and healthy and
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provide campus maintenance. These different elements assist with providing a school climate
that “encourages openness, trust, self-esteem, self-motivation, respect for self and others”
(SARC, 2012, para. 4).
Overview of School Social Work Services Provided
Of the 600 hours required for school field placement, 388 hours were completed at
Akers School with services ranging from k-8th grade. At the elementary level at this school in
particular there was 130 hours completed. At the middle school level, there was 258 hours
completed.
The individual system level included 167 individual face to face contacts with students.
Individual contacts pertaining to the service plan include: assessment, social skill building, role
plays, homework, feedback, relaxation techniques, and cognitive restructuring. Additional
supportive services include academic monitoring, identifying feelings, proper ways of releasing
anger, calm down techniques, discussions and reflections of peer and family relationships,
home life, stressors, and motivators.
At the group system level there were two groups facilitated. There were a total of 14
group contacts. The duration of one group was ten sessions while the other group was a brief
intervention to the 5th grade population of a total of 4 sessions. This group included services of
social skill and team building utilizing the evidence-based Second Step curriculum. The ten
session group consisted of awareness and identification of feelings, social skill building such as
appropriate ways to express anger, problem-solving, and communication.
Understanding the family dynamics in assessment is critical to provide services to
produce a striving student. As a school social work intern at Akers, the services provided to
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families included, contacting parents and informing them of the individualized work provided
for their children, answering questions relating to their child, collaboration with parents to
implement interventions to transfer from school to the home environment. At the family
system level, families were contacted bi-monthly via phone call, home visit, parent-teacher
conference, grade-level team meetings with parents, SST’s, IEP’s, and before and after school
contact. There were a total of 102 family contacts.
Additional family work practice includes offering support to a parent having difficulties
with new adjustments and changes in her life such as deployed husband, marital
communication concerns, welcoming a new baby, and concerns with her eldest child’s
relationship with his stepfather. Several home visits and phone contacts were made to check in
on mother, discuss the family dynamics and offer support and resources. Furthermore, several
phone contacts and home visits were offered to a mother grieving the death of her father in
conjunction with individual contact with her daughter on grief.
At the community system level there was collaboration with other outside agencies as
related to the academic, social-emotional support and wellbeing of the pupils and their family,
and for my professional development and learning. Community contacts include: Base family
advocacy meeting, contact with Family Forces, Kings County Child Protective Services, Kings
County Truancy Summit, and Exceptional Parents Unlimited. There were a total of 15
community contacts for the 2011-2012 school year. Contact with base personnel was done to
gain permission of displaying posters created by the students, to be displayed in the
community. A school wide Pennies for Patients campaign was also utilized as a way of teaching
the students the importance of giving back to those in need.
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At the organizational system level there were 14 class-wide presentations on bullying
including: definition of bullying, types of bullying, ways one can prevent bullying, proper ways
to act if being bullied and proper ways of report. Additionally, macro work included an
organizational power analysis class assignment to identify influential decision makers, their
source of power, the allies, and strategies and tactics used to influence organizations.
Outcome of School Social Work Services
The following table outlines the outcomes of school social work services provided at the
different system levels at Admiral Akers School for the 2011-2012 school year.
Admiral Akers School Social Work Service Plan
2011-2012
System Level
Objective
Interventions
Data
Collection
Methods
Outcomes
Individual
To increase social
interactions and
build relaxation
techniques to lessen
anxiety in social
settings with 5 Jr.
High students.
Weekly 25 minute
individual sessions on
various social skill
activities and skill
building such as role
playing social situations
and modeling good
social interactions (such
as greeting, maintaining
eye contact and initiating
conversations), use CBT
to identify feelings,
thoughts and behaviors
to correct cognitive
distortions, teach
relaxation techniques.
Pretest
questionnaire
using a Likert
scale for 1-5 (1
being extremely
comfortable and 5
being extremely
uncomfortable on
various social peer
situations.
Posttests at end of
year or until
services are
discontinued using
same questionnaire
to gauge if
student’s total
5 out of 5 students
(100%) reported
lessened anxiety and
more comfort in
social settings and
interactions.
2 out of 5 students
(40%) significantly
had reduced anxiety
scoring 9 and below
on a scale of 1-25
points.
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Group
To increase skill
building in social
interactions, peer
relationships, and
problem-solving for
an enhancement in
life skills.
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Assigned weekly tasks
for students to practice
skills (ex: sitting with a
peer during lunch and
initiating 2 conversations
a week with classmates)
and weekly process of
how each task went and
provide feedback.
points decreased.
Worked with small group
of 3-4 students weekly
on social skills such as
empathy building, proper
eye contact, conflict
resolution, and steps to
solve problems, and
homework.
Personal
interviews at the
conclusion of the
group were
utilized to get the
perspective of the
students involved,
parents and
teachers on how
the behavior of the
child may have
improved prior to
the group.
Including weekly checkins on how student
utilized skill set for the
week offered feedback.
4 out of 4 (100%) of
the students indicated
they enjoyed the
group and were able
to express what they
took from the group
experience.
Parents attested that
3out of 4 students
(75%) saw moderate
improvements with
their children while
one (25%) saw
minimal
improvement.
Teachers indicated
improved academics
and behavior in 2 out
of 4 students (50%).
Family
Build academic
parental
involvement,
support and
monitoring for 4 Jr.
High students who
are academically
below in order to
increase the pupil’s
grade point average
(GPA).
Bi-monthly
conversations with
parents regarding their
perspective on the
academic progress of
their child and the
importance of utilizing
“PowerSchool” to view
student’s grades,
assignments and test
scores.
Accessed
“PowerSchool”
report at the end of
each trimester to
monitor how many
times parents
logged on to view
student‘s account.
Accessed
“PowerSchool” at
the end of each
3 out of 4 parents
(75%) improved
monitoring of their
child/children by at
least 15%.
3 out of 4 students
(75%) increased their
GPA
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Worked with
parents/guardians to
discuss the importance of
a study/homework
routine for student and
help parents implement
routine with their
permission.
Community
To promote a
continued sense of
social support and
community activism
within the school
context for the 20112012 school year.
Collaborated with
teachers to support
school social worker
with parental academic
support by utilizing the
teachers as another way
of relaying to parents the
importance of academic
monitoring and
awareness of student’s
assignments.
For Veterans day had
students participate in
creating “Thank You for
Fighting for our
Freedom” posters that
will be displayed in the
community in
appreciation of veterans
and active duty.
Hosted a “Pennies for
Patients” drive in the
fight against Leukemia
and Lymphoma
incorporate fun campaign
ideas such as “Make
Leukemia Disappear” by
place the word
"leukemia" at the
entrance to school. Each
time the school collects a
certain amount, remove
one letter. Encourage
students to make
leukemia disappear.
7
trimester to collect
and record pupil’s
GPA
Spoke with
administrators to
get data on school
site involvement
activities in the
previous 20102011 school year.
Compared end of
the year to see if
there was an
increase of
community
activism.
There was an increase
of 2 (15%) school
wide community
projects from the
2010-2011 school
year to the 2011-2012
school year.
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To decrease
bullying/violence by
5% in the school
setting for the 20112012 school year.
Organization
Increased awareness of
bullying and resources
available by providing a
45 minute power point
presentation to 4th -8th
grade students.
Offered praise and
incentives to students
displaying positive
character that aligned
with the school wide
“Character Counts”
framework
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Accessed the
number of bully
hotline calls made
at the end of the
2011-2012 school
year and compared
it to 2010-2011
school year.
Accessed the
number of incident
reports made at the
end of the 20112012 school year
as related to
behavioral/bullyin
g and compared it
to 2010-2011
school year.
There was a decrease
of 5 calls to the bully
hotline calls/internet
reports made. A
decrease of 20%.
There was an increase
of 14% in the number
of incidents of
behavioral/bullying
report as compared to
the 2010-2011 school
year, from 49 to 56.
Summary
The school service plan for Admiral Akers consisted of several contacts in the various
system levels. In evaluating the individual system level it decreased the anxiety of all five
students in social interactions through the use of supportive weekly services. The services
provided at the group level help build skills to promote the social and emotional aspect of a
student’s school experience. At the group level, parents and teachers reported there was a
decrease in behavioral problems in classroom and at the home setting. All group participants
were able to express what they learned from the group and expressed they enjoyed the
experience. Contact to families was done bi-monthly as a way of increasing monitoring of their
child/children’s grades, assignments and upcoming tests. This monitoring also helped increase
the student’s overall GPA. Contact with community agencies assisted with gaining additional
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resources for parents and families for their wellbeing. Although the number of incident reports
on bullying increased as compared to last school year, it can be seen as an increase in awareness
of reporting and self-advocacy. Through the use of school wide bully awareness and prevention
presentations, it appears the pupils became more aware of the variety of ways to report their
bullying incidents.
Recommendations
Recommendations for next school year would be to continue assessment of contacting
parents, speaking with teachers, and classroom observations to identify students in need of
supportive services. As the individual level findings indicate student’s benefited from weekly
individual contact as related to reduced anxiety. Since this school has a large turnover of
students yearly due to the military, a continued effort should include speaking directly with each
student and family to identify anxiety, or other mental health concerns that many military
students are at risk to. In assessing students for further needed support, examining the students
needing support and looking for commonalities of needs would allow for further group
formation. A group based on the unique social and emotional support of military children would
be recommended as a way of being able to identify their feelings and proper ways of coping due
to relocation, transition, and adjustment to parent deployment. The current social skill building
group should continue to benefit interpersonal skills, and will also aid in prevention of bullying
(Witted & Dupper, 2005). It is important for next school year to continue working closely with
parents and assess their own mental health needs due to research showing the mental health of
the at-home parent greatly affects the child’s distress level, creating behavioral problems.
(United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 2009) At the macro level, community and
organizational work should include gaining additional community and school wide (teachers,
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administrators) efforts to tackle violence prevention including bullying. A recommended needs
assessment on bullying should be carried out to identify the view of school staff on bullying and
its effects. Whitted and Dupper, (2005) state a needs assessment is essential in preventing school
bullying. These recommendations would create a better school environment for students and aid
in their academic, social, and emotional success.
Signature
Anne Gonzales, M.S.W./M.A._______________________________Date:_________________
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References
2010-2011 Annual school accountability report card. (2012, January). , 1-8. Retrieved from
http://www.central.k12.ca.us/district/SARC10-11/Akers_SARC_2010-11.pdf
United States Department of Veteran Affairs (2009). How deployment stress affects children
and families: Research finding.. Retrieved from
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/pro_deployment_stress_children.asp
Whitted, K., & Dupper, D. (2005). Best practices for preventing or reducing bullying in schools.
Children & Schools, 27(3), 167-175.